Yes, the wheel also moves when I twist the steering shaft. The problem I’m having is that the jeep seems to “dart” on smaller, uneven roads. The little bit of play in the wheel from doesn’t make things any easier. It’s fine on flat/larger roads, but the backroads near my house make me want to grip the wheel a little tighter.Maybe I'm not thinking about this correctly, but I believe you'll need to have someone hold your steering wheel still and check for play. Right now I bet your steering wheel is also moving so would be hard to determine play. I would think determining play would be more about how much the steering moves before the tires move
The DPA has already been replaced to a stock arm, the video was just old. It was just aligned about 2 months ago, and they had it on the alignment rack Friday to check the caster angle, so the toe-in should be fine. It tracks straight on the flat/larger highways, but the backroads with the higher crown is where I get the “darting” feeling.Mine moves just like that which I assume is normal since obviously the wheel is going to move. I'm not sure where the play would come from if you've replaced all that. Someone more knowledgeable will have to chime in. One thing I can promise is that you're going to be asked for pictures of your steering set up! You're experiencing bump steer and the typical culprits are the drop arm, drop TB bracket or alignment to get the toe in correct
In the gear box? I just replaced it on Friday to a completely new box, and I’ve still got the play.The play is in the steering gear.
Make sure your track bar bushings in good shape and the bolts torqued properly.I’ve had some other posts on here about the darting issue, but I never got it solved. No DPA, no drop brackets. Dry steering tests don’t yield any visible results.
The video of the steering wheel is from this morning - it’s the inside view of the wheel as I move the steering shaft by hand…. The video of the steering test is from a few months ago (before I removed the DPA).
So I checked my angles (drag link and track bar) with an angle finder, and they’re -12.4 on the drag link (stock pitman arm), and -9.4 on the track bar.
Based on what the shop said, these need to be within 1 degree of each other, otherwise it will cause “walking” in the suspension…. Meaning that the drag link and track bar geometry are off, and against each other due to that, causing the darting.
It’s not “pulling” - my steering wheel doesn’t move at all, and I’m not fighting it. It just seems to really take to the dips in the road.
There should be almost 0 play in the steering gear. What steering gear did you install?Drudging up an old post here….. I’ve addressed/fixed my darting issue (it was bad sway bar links - they’ve been replaced), but I’m still dealing with some steering wheel play.
Steering wheel still has about ~1” of play either way (11:00 - 1:00) that doesn’t do anything with the wheels. When I turn the wheel in the jeep, the upper/lower steering moves with it, but the pitman arm doesn’t move. This is the case when it’s started, or turned off. Most of the time when I’m driving down the road, the wheel is either at the 11:00 or 1:00 position when driving straight.
I have replaced the steering box, and verified that all bolts are properly torqued. All tie-rod ends are new, as are the track bar, drag link, tie-rod, upper/lower front ball joints, and pitman arm.
Any ideas?
I replaced it with one from Orielly’s. I know they’re not the preferred option on WTF, but I was really just doing it to see if it helped any - and it made no difference from the original one to the new one.There should be almost 0 play in the steering gear. What steering gear did you install?
Also, I read back a few posts and saw your stated angles on you track bat and drag link. How did you measure those angles?
If there is any play in the steering gear, well, there should not be.I replaced it with one from Orielly’s. I know they’re not the preferred option on WTF, but I was really just doing it to see if it helped any - and it made no difference from the original one to the new one.
I used an digital angle finder I bought off of Amazon. It’s magnetic and just stick on the bar(s) and displays the angle.
I’m not overly concerned with it - since I fixed the sway bar links it rides much better. I still feel safe when driving, but figure if I can get some insight on how to fix it, great!I got my box rebuilt about 6 months back. I probably have about an inch of play as well. Doesn't concern me too much. I assume its just luck of the draw with all the internal components and their tolerances. At least it doesn't torque steer and pull me off the road like my old camry did.